Ok, so again with the temp/humidity

[Brokenangelr]

Many apologies for yet another repeat thread but I've changed my setup a little bit and would like some advice.
My original setup for heating included a UTH, and 2 heat lamps with incandescent bulbs (one for day and one for night with 12 hours each lamp). After running this for a while and bringing my ball python home, I found that the temps were too cold by about 10 degrees on each side. My humidity was also really bad (i have a 36x18x18 glass exo terra tank and I live in a basement. I am fully aware that I will always struggle to keep the humidity and temps right). So, to try to remedy the situation with the temps, I went and got some che's for the tank. This has, for the most part, solved my temperature issues (80-81 cool and 81-85 hot is better than 70 cool and 80 hot. The uth is heating her hide at about 90), but the humidity is still pretty bad. I changed the bedding from ecoearth to cypress mulch which i will start misting 2 to 3 times daily, got a humid hide which dries up quickly so it gets misted daily also. I want to back down the lamps or take them away entirely but i want her to have the 12 hour day/12 hour night and i think they are still helping with the temp issues. Any suggestions on what to try next? She has not shed yet and i do not see any signs of imminent shed yet but it has to be right around the corner as I have had her for almost a month now. If she starts having bad sheds and i cannot remedy it, i will start giving her a regular soak/bath and i know she is not going to like that.
Thanks for being patient with my thread. As thanks, here are some pics of the wonderful inhabitant of this very frustrating habitat.





And she has hearts!


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[Skittles1101]

If you are reading temps and humidity with those sticky analog guages, then you are reading incorrect inaccurate readings....

You also didn't mention a thermostat. UTHs without one are very dangerous. My small ZooMed one exceeds 130 degrees inside the tank...

[Don]

First, where are you taking the temperature readings and with what instruments? The temperature readings should be taken on the substrate where the snake sits, not up on the side of the tank. Best readings are taken with a temperature gun. Too much heat will dissipate humidity, so that could be one problem.

[West Coast Jungle]

Go rack, you'll never go back

[Annarose15]

The lighting in those pics is pretty poor, but I'd say she's on her way into a shed cycle now. You should see blue eyes within the next week. How do you have her humid hide set up?

[kitedemon]

Heat before humitdity. The typical issue with enclosures is the room they are in is simply too cool for the low power heater to over come. The easy temp fix is often bump the room temp a few degrees. That is not always practicle and sometimes insulating 3 sides of the enclosure will help somewhat. Something to think about. Remember most people who speak about racks and such usually have a dedicated space that is heated and sometimes humidified to the correct ambient temp and humidity. Practicle for lots of animals not so for one. I have a rack in a cool room and it is the hardest thing I have to heat properly.

Personally I find coco coir products to hold massive amounts of humidity many times more than cyprus does I used to struggle with too much humidity due to it. The simple fix for humidity is just a humid hide and a large water bowl.

[Slim]

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Basics...*DUW*

[Brokenangelr]

Ok so replies now. I do not use the stickey gauges anymore. Those came off on sunday with my tank cleaning. I currently use an accurite meter. The pribe for hot is just behind one of her hides on the hot side at the level of the substrate. The uth is on a lamp dimmer and monitored with a digital thermometer with the probe on the glass, under the substrate. The humid hide is a large exoterra snake cave and is on the hot side. That got put in on sunday with tank cleaning. She has been it it both times I checked for her. Of those pics, the first one was taken yesterday, the one with the stickeys is old and the others are from sunday. I will keep an eye out for the blue eyes.

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[Brokenangelr]

I do live in a basement and dont really have any control over the temps. I would love to switch to a tub system but ive spent a lot of money on the setup i have
I dont want to have only used it for a month after how much i put into it, so i want to try to make this setup work before giving up on it

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[Skittles1101]

Have you considered a tub set up? I have fairly inconsistent temps in my apartment in one room and tubs have worked out really well with only using flexwatt...or maybe a space heater? The only difference with the tub is you can ditch the tank and put everything from the tank into a tub...you'd only be spending like $15 more lol. Heat and humidity is hard to maintain in a tank in good room temps, nevermind in a cold drafty basement with no temperature control....